Cars versus…. Balance?
One user over another; cars against bicycles against pedestrians against transit. We often pit competing interests against one another. Many drivers do not like sharing the roadway with their non-motorized counterparts. They have a misconception that cyclists should be on the sidewalk and pedestrians should cross the street at their own peril. On the other hand, cyclists for their part are often rude and do not necessarily abide by the proper rules of the road, riding against traffic and running red lights. Pedestrians usually take the shortest route to their destination crossing everywhere but crosswalks in complete indifference to oncoming traffic. While historically we have dismantled our transit system in favor of automobile access. Our underlying challenge is balance.
This balance however is fundamentally out of place. In the U.S., 25% of all trips are within one mile or less and 75% of these trips are being made by a single occupancy vehicle (SOV). This cultural shift, which is caused by various factors, is having some dire consequences upon our society both from a global perspective and locally in our own communities.
During the 1996 summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, SOV’s were banned from entering downtown. This unprecedented move triggered a decision by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to study the effects of this ban to determine what its public health effects might be. The study determined that morning traffic was down by 22%, ground level ozone was reduced by 28% and asthma related hospitalizations were reduced by 42%. While Mother Earth may give you the proverbial pat on the back, anyone who has a child with asthma can appreciate this.
From another perspective, research has pointed out that today’s generation of youth has a lower life expectancy then their parents, the first time this has occurred in human history! This is due to the lifestyle diseases associated with obesity such as type II diabetes, which at one time was considered adult onset and is now seen in youth as young as twelve. There is a solid body of research that is demonstrating that a person who lives in a sprawled community compared to a dense one has a higher incidence of obesity determining that the design of our environment plays a role in our everyday decisions. These decisions not only contribute to the health of the environment but our personal health and overall quality of life.
As part of the solution, a policy for complete streets in Buffalo is not about pitting one mode of travel over another, rather it’s based upon returning balance. The design of our city dictates its use. If we can provide a sense of equilibrium back to a system established that limits our choices, we can begin to remove some of the barriers that are disenfranchising segments of our population, improve our air quality and reduce the epidemic of obesity. A conscious decision to reduce these consequences will be the beginning of a lasting positive legacy for future generations; the elusive goal of any responsible society.
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Comment Options
wizardofza
Dude, you're preaching to the choir here.
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sbrof
not everyone is a part of the choir even on BRO.. just give it a couple hours until the anti-anything but car group comes out.
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benfranklin
sbrof, take a look at the posts from the last 72 hours, and you might see that some of the 'anti' crowd has been shown the door. Certainly will shorten some of these threads.
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ChocolateShake
How much pollution does a NFTA bus contribute? Would a bus operating at under-capacity be just as environmentally adverse as a SOV?
Are there fines for those on bicycles who do not use hand signals or just downright operate against established regulations of the road?
What about pedestrians? I have witnessed more pedestrians being struck by someone on a bicycle as opposed to a car on Elmwood Avenue. Yet, I have never heard anyone preaching about how those on bikes should be accommodating to pedestrians with young children or dog walkers on Elmwood Avenue.
Justin: "today’s generation of youth has a lower life expectancy then their parents" - You desperately need a citation for that fact buddy. What established medical journal has ever made that statement?
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AtwaterLouse
Another lie spread on BR about life expectancy. This time in an article, a couple weeks ago in an sbof comment that understated black life expectancy by 19 years. To his credit, sbof then apologized.
Wrong. It's risen by over 8 years since the previous generation (1955).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091201515.html
Why doesn't the 'pro-anything but car' group simply check their life expectancy facts before posting them here?
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sbrof
I don't know about that quote but you can google Prof. Laurence Frank about the obesity - diabetes link to the physical design of where you grow up.
BenF... yea that is a shame. I enjoyed hearing some of the opposing argument in the comments. Sometimes they make sense.. other times they don't. That is a part of the game of being a forum.
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buffalocat
Actually, in 2005, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article by a group of demographers and biostaticians from the University of Chicago claiming that, based on current trends in obesity rates, the US would see a stagnation or decrease in life expectancy at birth, rather than the continual increase that had previously been anticipated. The article set off an ongoing debate in the public health world, and numerous articles have been printed on both sides of the topic since then (you can easily google a sampling of them). The author of this BRO piece writes that "today's generation of youth has a lower life expectancy...", leading Atwater Louse to use data from 2005's life expectancy at birth statistics to refute the comment, but both misinterpret the point (and research). The original belief that life expectancy will decline for Americans is based on projected calculations, and claims that the decrease in life expectance won't be noticed until a few years from now, once we start seeing deaths from obesity related ailments at younger ages. Atwater Louse shows that obesity hasn't yet impacted life expectancy at birth, but it likely won't until the children who are experiencing catastrophic obesity-related illnesses at younger and younger ages begin to die from their conditions, thereby impacting subsquent birth cohorts' life expectancy at birth.
Life expectance is actually a pretty complicated measure that changes for surviving members of a cohort change over time (if you were born in 1950, your life expectancy at birth was 68.2, but by 2005, life expectancy for those surviving members of the cohort - now 65 years old - was 78.9, while babies born in 2005 had a life expectancy at birth of 77.9 years), so the point of biostatisticans and demographers who believe obesity will lead to a lowered life expectancy than their parents won't actually be seen now. But by 2050, we can expect obesity to play a large role in cutting life expectancy by 2-5 years.
And another point - a life expectancy at birth that is lower than a prior generation would certainly not be the first example of this in "human history". In American history, yes, but this reduction is already occurring in many African and Latin American populations, where AIDS takes an increasingly large number of young lives.
Sorry - this might be off topic, but I think it's important to think about how overall health can be impacted by obesity, even if it's not immediately recognizable.
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ChocolateShake
sborf,
Per your suggestion, I did a Google search of government and academic webpages and can't find a single study to support the claim that those born today will have” lower life expectancy than their parents." From an initial search, I have found articles that make the opposite claim. However, as a reader, it is not my responsibility to fact check another's published work. Its sloppy and unprofessional for Justin to make such powerful statements and not be able to back them up. I'm pointing out what any high school freshman English or history teacher would mandate from their students.
Debate and discussion is healthy. I don't think its unreasonable to inquire how certain viewpoints are formed. Too often, BRO articles are based on emotion and run counter to well established facts. Furthermore, to generalize anyone who disagrees as an "anti" "crowd" actually poisons the well of intellectual debate. Such cliché bumper sticker slogans do nothing to further debate but actually incite the "crazies" to come out and make outrageous statements.
There is, most likely, much more that we agree upon than these comment boards allow. However, I ask that you direct criticism towards ideas or policies rather than generalize people into a "crowd" (per Benfranklin). nn
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JBooth
Here is the study that I took the information from: Olshansky SJ, Passaro DJ, Hershow RC, Layden J, Carnes BA, Brody J, Hayflick L, Butler RN, Allison DB, and Ludwig DS, “A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy in the United States in the 21st Century,” New England Journal of Medicine, 352:11, pp. 1138-1145.
The study opens by saying - "Over the next few decades, life expectancy for the average American could decline by as much as 5 years unless aggressive efforts are made to slow rising rates of obesity, according to a team of scientists supported in part by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)."
Furthermore; it goes on to state: "The U.S. could be facing its first sustained drop in life expectancy in the modern era, the researchers say, but this decline is not inevitable if Americans — particularly younger ones — trim their waistlines or if other improvements outweigh the impact of obesity."
The human history statement should be protracted and should read American History. However, since 2005 obesity rates have continued to skyrocket and we are showing no progress in the largest public health crisis in the 21st century.
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sbrof
my suggestion to google Laurence Frank wasn't linked to the life expectancy debate. More to the research that he has done to link obesity, diabetes to the urban design of where you live and the health care cost consequences. The more suburban the urban design of a place, the less healthy children are because the design doesn't encourage but in fact often discourages kids from physical activity.
Also before someone jumps on it, his definition of "suburban" are not drawn along political city / suburb lines but by the characteristics of the place. Intersections per square mile, residential density and other more quantifiable criteria that effect the connectivity of a place. Places like Kenmore, Williamsville (proper not perceived), east aurora are all "urban" just as parts of North buffalo might fall into a more suburban side of the scale.
I was lucky enough to attend a discussion by him when he presented these findings to the University at Buffalo several years ago. If i can find a link to the specific research I am referencing (from memory) i will happily post it here.
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sbrof
Laurence Frank Sumary
Not the actual study but a rather detailed article about what he does and some of the initial findings from his work.
"The excess of physical problems such as arthritis linked to sprawl was comparable to the change that would occur if the entire population suddenly aged by 4 years"
"A typical white male living in a compact, mixed-use community weighs about 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) less than a similar man in a diffuse subdivision containing nothing but homes"
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ChocolateShake
Thanks Justin! Next time put it in your article! Such citations give the article strength.
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AtwaterLouse
Yes the reference should've been cited along with a link to it (a too-common omission in BR articles). But the BR article still misleads about what Olshansky et al wrote in that study. Them warning what 'could' happen, "life expectancy for the average American could decline by as much as 5 years...", is of course very different from the 'has' which Justin claimed:
An honest objective paraphrasing could be something like: "today’s generation of youth
hasCOULD HAVE a lower life expectancy then their parents, the first time thishas occurredWOULD OCCUR in human history!" Better yet would be to just quote the study's wording.Report this
al-alo
sbrof said:
"not everyone is a part of the choir even on BRO.. just give it a couple hours until the anti-anything but car group comes out."
sbrof,
while i agree with the premise that there can be a unbounded and ungrounded amount of cycicism here, i do think it is valuable.
sadly, its true that a few posters have resorted to attacking individuals/groups/ideas in a manner that does their cause no service and diminishes their standing, however, i read the contrarian points of view the most carefully.
in that haze there are often nuggets of truth. sometimes these ideas are so camafoged by cynicism its hard to see. but nonetheless, i think its important to understand the arguements behind another approach. even prospective saints have a devils advocate to argue aginst them.
I dont mean to single you or anybody out. Im just afraid of a wholesale pasturization process that diminishes the conversation, and even the potential outcomes. dialoge and comprimise very often can produce the best results.
i guess all i want is a good clean fight, all blows above the belt.
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ablejack
Regardless of any studies concerning life expectancy, the bicycle is a healthier choice for both the operator and other citizens. I concede that road conditions in Buffalo may make biking more dangerous during the winter. Other than that the bicycle is a better vehicle for the city. An exercising bicyclist is way more connected to and a participant of the vibrancy of a community. The idle bodied automobile operator just passes through leaving a swath of emissions.
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wizardofza
sbrof, even the "anti-anything but car group" people on this site are quite familiar with the message Justin is trying to get across; they might not agree with it but they've still heard it 100 times on here.
I'm merely suggesting that he might want to seek out more diverse outlets for this message....maybe go on one of the local TV news stations where much of the prime audience likely has no concept of life without an automobile and lives in an area where at least 2-3 generations have no concept of life without an automobile.
On this site, most of the readers are at least people who interest themselves enough in the city (whether they actually live there or not) that the prospect of walking more than a block from where they park the car won't scare the living daylights out of them.
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al-alo
i just want to also clarify - im nt trying to excuse bullying, needlessly berating, smearing or lying just because a valid point is buried in the comment.
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FunGuy
Choc Shake and Atwater, thank you for pointing out the need for accurate "reporting" ala "had/has" vs. "COULD."
Booth, if you want to really get an audience for your soapboxing, try the actual facts first. Your product will sell much better and maybe you'll gain some credibility. The world cannot revolve around your pipe dreams, kid. Others need to be figured in to the pot. Taxpayers and old people, disabled and single moms need to get around to get groceries, perscriptions and such.
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FunGuy
One other thought. Did the driver of the car/SUV that took this picture have any passengers with them? Check it out, definatley taken from the driver seat of a car.
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chris69
You want alternatives....then put the NFTA (bus and light rail), the Port of Buffalo, the Airport, the NYSDOT, the GBNRTC and Rail under a single consortium.
Demand that the gas tax be distributed for light rail, bus, bicycles and commuter rail as well as for transportation for cars and trucks.
You want alternatives...then demand local control and local priorities for all local projects to be decided locally instead of albany or dc!
You want alternatives....put the public oversight into all these albany dictatorial agencies.
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RisingDamp666
If we could all live above the store then these endless arguments would have more than mere salutary meaning. The car isn't going away ever. Deal with it. In the future, the car won't run on gas, but it is too powerful a force in our entire social organization to ever disappear. Reordering our cities around the bike is a peripheral gesture that, ironically, has seen the greatest success in some of the most car-centric places.( The more wide streets you have, the more bikes you can accomodate) Bicycling is a personal choice. The car is a societal construct, it's encoded in every relation, especially those of bicycling enthusiasts as the post above so clearly illustrates.
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wizardofza
LOL, the "dive-by photography" in regards to the photo above is all to ironic for this post.
RD666, Humans having these destructive toys known as automobiles has been just a tiny blip on the map of our history of civilization. In the end, we are all at the mercy of mother nature. Our planet is not one of limitless resources (despite the pathetic delusions of many) and the energy resources which too easily fuels an orgiastic lifestyle of mass-motoring could easily come to an end. Oh darn, we'll have to go back the age-old utilization of our own two feet and animal muscle power.
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RisingDamp666
The car is not necessarily defined by any one fuel source. Gasoline is the "tiny blip", the car will long survive the era of fossil fuels. Cars may not be totally green, but they won't be burning gas much longer. Thirty more years, that's it. Solar power, that's mother nature, isn't it?
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sbrof
The real problem with the car is not its pollution through driving, because as RD666 has talked about fuels will be changing but the ancillary issues associated with car driving.
The increased usage of land, the promote of less efficient detached homes, social isolation, encouragement of laziness etc.
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deepthinka
great read...thanks justin!
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